Conflict of Interests in the Public Sphere:
Law, Culture, Ethics, Politics
- Edited By: Daphne Barak-Erez, Doron Navot, Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer
- Publication Date:
- Cover Type: Hardcover | Hebrew
- Number Of Pages: 672 Pages
- Center: Democratic Values and Institutions Program
Situations in which public officials and civil servants are influenced by conflicts of interests often draw public attention, and in some cases reach the courts. This book focuses on conflicts of interest that impact a civil servant’s abilities to fulfill his duties, as well as those contained in the broader public sphere, such as within positions filled by lawyers and judges. It addresses legal, conceptual, ethical, and cultural angles of conflict in this realm.
Situations in which public officials and civil servants are influenced by conflicts of interests often draw public attention, and in some cases reach the courts. The growing awareness of the importance of prohibitions against conflict of interests is manifest in the frequent media reports that address this issue, as well as in the increasing activity of institutional gatekeepers and exposure of officials who work under these circumstances. However, the expanded public and legal activity directed at treating this phenomenon also raises questions regarding excessive control and the purism of bureaucratic regulation.
- Does acting and working within a situation of conflict of interests constitute corrupt behavior?
- Should civil servants who operate under circumstances of conflict of interests be punished?
- Do public servants in Israel work more frequently in situations of conflict of interests than those of OECD countries?
- Are conflicts of interest a characteristic of governmental culture in Israel, or do they occur as isolated incidents that have become increasingly common and problematic over time?
Conflict of Interests in the Public Sphere seeks to provide answers to these questions, as well as to outline their broader context within the Israeli public sector. This book focuses on conflicts of interest that impact a civil servant's abilities to fulfill his duties, as well as those contained in the broader public sphere, such as within positions filled by lawyers and judges. Conflict of Interests in the Public Sphere addresses legal aspects of these questions (civil and criminal), but also conceptual, ethical, and cultural angles.
This comprehensive compilation of previously unpublished articles by some of Israel's top scholars, including: Nava Ben-Or, Yakov Ben-Shemesh, Yotam Benziman, Gad Barzilai, Aharon Barak, Daphne Barak-Erez, Miriam Gur-Ariyeh, Aviad Ha'Cohen, Neta Ziv, Yitzhak Zamir, Limor Zar-Guttman, Yigal Marzel, Doron Navot, Yuval Feldman, and Mordechai Kremnitzer.